Asking permission??

[Jack Spinks]

Hey guys, during work I was thinking of trying my luck on a new property and the question I always struggle with is that initial moment when you ask to go for a hunt on their place.. Although I've never been rejected down here (the doggers give owners hell) I was wondering how you ask for bowhunting permission??

This will also be valuable tool to help those wanting to ask certain owners for bow hunting rights in the future..

A few things I like to bring up when asking permission:

1. We are quiet
2. do not disturb live stock
3. Very safe (no stray bullets etc)
4. We only take the biggest (unless your hunting for meat, or to thin numbers)
5. Were professional when it comes to clean humane kills
6. We walk ( wont cut up tracks, wont light fires with vehicles)

These 6 reasons are only a few but you get the right idea, Another few very very important question I always ask and I believe is crucial to good partnership with owners are :

1. Can I bring out some milk and bread (basic necessities) the mail even a slab of beer
2. Would you like some dog meat?? (usually most big farms have plenty of dogs, taking the bag legs of a pig for dog meat is appreciated)
3. Always offer to check dams, fences, livestock etc (just common sense) in this case letting the owner know he has a downed fence, a fly blown ewe or a very low and muddy dam can really only help in your partnership ( if anything ever looks suss or out of place it only takes a short call to sort it out with the owner, especially tyre tracks (possible poachers etc)

One of the most important is being honest and on time when dealing with the owners, be honest with who your taking with you and for how long and where you plan to hunt, if you have a basic knowledge of common sense youll be fine and may fine that trophy of a life time..

Hope this can be a valuable help to those seeking new properties

Pick, Draw, Release

Jack spinks

[morganp]

The only thing I would add, and it can be hard to ask for, is to get it in writing!

Maybe a simple form 'letter of agreement' saying Landholder gives permission for 'X' to enter and hunt over property. Landholder is not held responsible or liable for injury etc etc.? It's that kind of age we live in and is a legal requirement in some States I believe. The ABA and such representative 'associations' should offer hunters help with this? Owners would probably see it as a responsible approach in that case. Two copies, one each, with contact details of next of kin lol.

Some wouldn't like to sign as it implies a responsibility but the opposite applies. I only have (had lol) one hunting block and it is somewhere I have only walked, never shot on yet. I recently stopped by the farmer to drop off a bottle of whisky and remind him he had offered me permission a couple of years back and to see if I still could go but now with one or two mates at a time, found he had passed on and the manager had no idea I had ever been walking the property! No permission given but he did say if I had had it written he would have allowed it. I am not able to hunt at present but wanted to get a couple of mates onto it.

[Sleepy]

........
2. Would you like some dog meat?? (usually most big farms have plenty of dogs, taking the bag legs of a pig for dog meat is appreciated).......

A good idea, however, a word of warning; (from what I've read) if you're going to offer some of your catch as dog tucker to the owner, you'd better be damn sure it hasn't been getting (directly or indirectly), into any 1080 poison; 1080-contaminated meat is apparently highly toxic to dogs, and while a farmer would probably appreciate some free feed for his dog(s), I don't think he'd be too impressed with you if he went out the next morning to move a few sheep/cattle and finds his best mate and prime stock-mover keeled over in the kennel from that "free dog tucker" you gave him last night.

Next time you show your face 'round there, it may well be your back legs going into the (new) dog's tucker bowl.

Okay, so how do you figure out whether the meat is safe for Fido? It seems like it can be a bit tricky; apparently it depends on the species you take and the poisons being used in the vicinity. Have a gander at this for a start (in particular, the sections on meat safety, Trichinella, poisons and toxic residues, buffer zones, etc, mind you, all the information in there is worth reading, even if it is N.Z.-specific): http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/food-safet ... g/hunters/

Also bear in mind that animals travel through fences, so you may well need to have a chat to the owners of adjoining properties to find out if they're using any poisons.

Dogs aside, you should be checking with property owners (and likely their neighbours too) to find out about any poisons being used on or near the area you (hope) to be hunting anyway - to quote the foodsmart webpage:

"If wild game eat a small amount of the poison bait, or pigs eat dead animals which have been poisoned, the amount of poison consumed may not be enough to kill them. The poison then stays in the animal’s system for a very long time, and will be in the meat and concentrated in the liver and kidneys.

An animal which has very recently eaten a high, but non-lethal, dose of anticoagulant poison may have poison residues concentrated in the meat. Regularly eating meat over several months from such an animal poses the risk of continued and cumulative exposure to the poison.

If this meat is eaten by a person on the drug warfarin (or any other blood thinning medication) the residues can exaggerate the effects of the medication.".

Not good. So take care, and play it safe out there.

Anybody else got anything they can add to this?

Cheers all!

[clinton miller]

good point. i guess it depends a little on what the target animal was for the poison in the area. most commonly in my area it's for dogs, foxes and cats which means meat baits and it's unlikely herbivores will be contaminated by that type of bait. pigs in the area i wouldn't present as dog food though. if 1080 has been used for rabbit or other larger herbivore baiting via oats or carrots then the 'dog' meat stays in the paddock.

let's be glad we don't have the 1080 farce that NZ has where the stuff rains from the sky.